A device that bridges phone and portable computer in a single fold
In a world where the tools of the powerful often speak louder than their words, Bill Gates has quietly answered a long-standing question: the Microsoft founder, a man who could carry anything, carries a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Received as a gift from Samsung's president during a visit to South Korea, the foldable device appeals to Gates for its ability to collapse the distance between smartphone and workstation. His choice arrives at a moment when the smartphone's familiar rectangle is being reimagined, and when the company he built has itself stepped back from the hardware frontier.
- Gates's public disclosure cuts through years of speculation, confirming not only his device of choice but his longstanding preference for Android over Apple's iPhone.
- The revelation creates a quiet tension with Microsoft's own hardware ambitions — the Surface Duo 3 pursues a rival foldable vision that its founder has effectively bypassed.
- Samsung's foldable category, once dismissed as expensive novelty, gains credibility when someone with unlimited options chooses it as a daily productivity tool.
- The Z Fold 4's 7.2-inch unfolded display lets Gates run Outlook, Office, and cloud tools in one device — collapsing the need for both phone and tablet into a single object.
- Samsung is wagering that foldable shipments will grow tenfold by 2023, and an unsolicited endorsement from one of tech's most recognized figures sharpens that bet considerably.
Bill Gates recently answered a question tech observers have long debated — what device does he actually use? In a post shared online, he named Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 as his daily phone, a device he received as a personal gift from Lee Jay-Yong, Samsung's president, during a visit to South Korea.
What draws Gates to the Z Fold 4 is its dual nature. Closed, it functions as a standard smartphone. Opened, its 7.2-inch display becomes something closer to a portable workstation. For someone whose day revolves around email, documents, and productivity software, that flexibility is practical rather than theatrical. Samsung devices also ship with Microsoft applications — Outlook, Office, OneDrive — already integrated, making the ecosystem a natural fit.
The choice carries an implicit commentary on Microsoft's own direction. Under Satya Nadella, the company has retreated from hardware manufacturing, prioritizing software and services over devices. Its own foldable, the Surface Duo 3, takes a different structural approach — two screens hinged like a book. Gates's preference for a competitor's hardware underscores how the center of smartphone innovation has shifted.
Gates has previously stated his preference for Android over iPhone, so the platform choice is consistent. What's new is the specificity — and the signal it sends about foldables as a category. He isn't a paid ambassador; he's simply a user who chose this over everything else available to him. Samsung expects foldable shipments to grow roughly tenfold by 2023, and an organic endorsement from someone of Gates's profile suggests the format may be crossing from curiosity into genuine utility.
Bill Gates has settled a question that tech watchers have been asking for years: what phone does one of the world's most influential technologists actually use every day? The answer, he revealed recently online, is Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4—a device he received as a gift from Lee Jay-Yong, Samsung's president, during a visit to South Korea.
Gates has long been intrigued by foldable phones. He's mentioned his interest in the format before, but this is the first time he's publicly named his daily driver. What appeals to him about the Z Fold 4, he explained, is how it bridges two worlds. When folded, it's a conventional smartphone. When opened, its 7.2-inch display transforms it into something closer to a tablet or portable computer. For someone who spends his day moving between email, documents, and productivity tools, this flexibility matters. He can run Microsoft Outlook, Office applications, and other work software without needing to carry a separate tablet alongside his phone.
The revelation is notable partly because it contradicts what Microsoft itself is currently pursuing. The company's own foldable offering, the Surface Duo 3, takes a different approach—it opens like a book, with two screens side by side. But since Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, Microsoft has gradually stepped back from hardware manufacturing, choosing instead to focus on software and digital services. Gates's choice to use a Samsung device underscores how the smartphone market has evolved: the innovation in form factor is now happening elsewhere.
Gates has also been candid about preferring Android to Apple's iPhone, a position he's stated openly before. Samsung devices come with Microsoft applications built in—OneDrive for cloud storage, Office for productivity—which makes the ecosystem work seamlessly for his needs. It's a practical choice, not a statement of corporate loyalty.
Samsung is betting heavily on foldables as the future. The company expects shipments of its Z Flip and Z Fold models to grow roughly tenfold by 2023, positioning these devices as genuine innovation rather than incremental refinement. The Z Fold 4 itself launched in August 2022 at roughly 12,800 Brazilian reais, though prices have since dropped to around 9,970 reais. The phone packs a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor and four cameras capable of capturing up to 50 megapixels, spread across its folded and unfolded surfaces.
What makes Gates's endorsement significant is not that he's a paid spokesperson—he isn't—but that he's a user who has the resources to choose anything. His preference for the Z Fold 4 suggests the category has matured beyond novelty. For professionals who need both mobility and screen real estate, the foldable format appears to be solving a genuine problem. Whether this becomes the dominant form factor or remains a niche for early adopters will likely depend on how quickly the technology improves and prices fall.
Citas Notables
Gates described the Z Fold 4 as an equilibrium between a phone and a portable PC, allowing him to interact with Microsoft solutions without carrying a separate tablet— Bill Gates, via Reddit
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Why does a billionaire's phone choice matter? Isn't it just personal preference?
Because Gates isn't just any user—he's someone who can afford any device on Earth and chooses based on what actually works. When he says the Z Fold 4 replaces both his phone and tablet, he's describing a real productivity shift, not marketing.
But Microsoft makes its own foldable. Doesn't it sting that he's using Samsung's instead?
It would, except Microsoft stopped trying to compete in hardware years ago. They pivoted to software. Gates using a Samsung device with Microsoft apps installed is actually the strategy working as intended—the apps matter more than the device.
The article mentions Samsung expects shipments to grow tenfold. Is that realistic?
It depends on price and durability. Right now foldables are luxury items. If they become as reliable and affordable as regular phones, the growth could happen. But that's still a few years away.
What does this say about the future of phones?
That the smartphone form factor might finally be changing after a decade of stagnation. Gates using it daily suggests foldables aren't just a gimmick—they're solving a real problem for people who need both portability and screen space.
Do you think this will influence other executives to switch?
Possibly. When someone as visible as Gates publicly uses something, it gives permission to others to try it. But the real test is whether regular people find it useful, not whether billionaires do.